In Need of an Upgrade?

Here’s a joke for you: A man applies for a job. His prospective employer asks about his previous work. The man says, “I was a dog catcher in a small Texas town, but they had to let me go when the position was eliminated.”

The employer asks, “Was it eliminated because of funding cuts?”

The man says, “No. It was eliminated because I caught the dog.”

Have you ever felt like that dog catcher — that you have outlasted your usefulness and are no longer necessary? It’s been known to happen. One way we sometimes deal with it is simply to let the dog back out on the street and chase it some more. We may not accomplish much in the long run, but at least we keep busy. There is, however, a better way.

In the Old Testament there’s a story of a Babylonian slave named Nehemiah. Nehemiah had a big dream: he wanted to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem. Against all odds, he accomplished his goal. What next? Tear down the walls and build them again? Instead, Nehemiah moved to a new level. He developed a new dream, bigger and more ambitious than the first: reuniting the people of Israel.

This is what he wrote: At that time the city was large and spacious, but the population was small. And only a few houses were scattered throughout the city. So my God gave me the idea to call together all the leaders of the city, along with the ordinary citizens, for registration. (Nehemiah 7:4-5)

Instead of questioning his own usefulness, Nehemiah upgraded his goals in life; he made the transition from building walls to building people.

If your life has become a circle of letting the dog out so you can catch it again…of tearing down walls so you can rebuild them…it may be time to upgrade your goals. God gave Nehemiah an idea of what to do next.

He has an idea for you, too.